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THE $400 million Sunshine Plaza expansion is one of the most eagerly anticipated projects in the region but it's already hit a significant hurdle.

It appears enterprise agreement negotiations between workers and Lendlease have struck difficulty leading to work grinding to an apparent halt on-site on Wednesday.

An ARM staffer was at the Plaza about noon and reported seeing no construction activity on the site of the multi-storey carpark near the Kmart entrance.

The staffer said he saw about six workers gathered under a portable, pop-up tent nearby with about half-a-dozen red CFMEU flags flying, but there didn't appear to be anyone on the job site itself.

A Lendlease spokeswoman said the company was aware of "industrial action that is occurring on its building sites in Queensland".

"This is a matter that relates to enterprise agreement negotiations, and we regret that this action has been taken," the spokeswoman said.

"On Thursday 6 October 2016, the Fair Work Commission made orders that those workers engaging in unlawful industrial action on affected projects must cease taking that action. These orders will have effect until 31 December 2016."

The spokeswoman said the site remained open for work although the Daily understands industrial action had been taking place since late-September.

As for what scale of action being taken and exactly what unions were involved remained unclear, but the Daily understands enterprise agreement negotiations were continuing.

It's unclear at this stage what sort of impact on construction periods or timeframes the issues would have.

The Kmart multi-storey carpark and a new carpark behind Toys R'Us on Horton Pde were part of the first stage of the $400 million redevelopment which will see 100 new retailers come to the Coast including David Jones.

The Daily has approached the CFMEU for an official comment on the matters.